Humana

Humana "provides various health and supplemental benefit plans for employer groups, government benefit programs, and individuals in the United States." Humana business units include Humana Military Healthcare Services Inc., which "offers TRICARE to a population of 2.8 million military beneficiaries in the South region of the U.S. and Puerto Rico," and Humana Medicare Plans, which includes Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D and Medicare supplement plans.

Humana belongs to the insurance industry group America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). In June 2009, AHIP sent a letter to Senator Edward Kennedy, warning of "devastating consequences" if Congress and the Obama administration included a public health insurance option in health care reform. A public option "would dismantle employer-based coverage, significantly increase costs for those who remain in private coverage, and add additional liabilities to the federal budget," the letter claimed.

Public relations
In 2009, Coyne Public Relations won an award for its work for Humana, on the "marketing consumer services" campaign, "Share and Share-a-Bike: Humana Brings Bike-Sharing to the Masses."

In September 2008, Humana named Edelman as its public relations agency of record (AOR), or lead firm. The contract involved "social media, IR [investor relations], CEO visibility, and reputation enhancement." Humana senior vice-president of corporate communications Tom Noland said, "Yes, we are a health benefits company ... [but] Humana is becoming more and more a consumer company." Porter Novelli had "been Humana's AOR since November 2003," reported PR Week.

Humana's has increasingly used social media. In November 2008, the company "launched a viral healthcare education campaign called 'Stay Smart Stay Healthy,'" using the video-sharing site YouTube and other websites. "Video topics include the definition of consumer-driven healthcare, the difference between HMOs and PPOs, and the history of healthcare in the US." In December 2008, Humana released "two online games ... as part of its Humana Games for Health initiative, which educates consumers about well-being through the use of video games." One game, called the "Freewheelin Cycle Challenge" was targeted to "women age 35 and older." Also in December, Humana launched its first Facebook application, called "the Battle of the Bulge," which "targets a slightly younger demographic, men and women age 28 and older."

In April 2009, Humana "launched a social media site for Baby Boomers that provides information about money, travel, relationships, and health as a way to raise visibility of the Humana brand." The company is targeting those "50 to 65 years old, [who] will soon be facing decisions about which Medicare brand they will choose." Humana corporate communications consultant Doug Bennett explained, "Once we become a valuable commodity to them in that space, they get the information, they build a relationship over time, [and] they find that we're dependable and trustworthy, when they have to make a decision about their Medicare product, hopefully we'll be in that consideration set."

Lobbying
Humana's lobbying spending spiked in 2008, totaling a reported $1,785,871 on in-house lobbyists and $537,500 on the lobbying firms of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Greenberg Traurig, Locke Liddell Strategies and Alston & Bird.

In the first quarter of 2009 alone, Humana reported spending $370,000 on in-house lobbyists and $140,000 on the same four lobbying firms listed above.

Humana also has a political action committee (PAC). The PAC raised $594,820 and spent $537,462 in the 2008 election cycle. Of its contributions to federal candidates, 38% went to Democrats and 62% to Republicans.

Controversies
In 1987, Humana sued NBC over a story line in the television medical drama St. Elsewhere, in which the hospital was to be sold to a for-profit medical corporation and renamed "Ecumena", with subsequent changes to the hospital, both positive and negative, emanating from that change. Humana was successful at forcing NBC into showing a disclaimer at the beginning of the September 30 episode saying that the drama had no connection whatsoever with Humana.

On May 30, 1996, Linda Peeno, who was contracted to work for Humana for nine months, testified before the U.S. Congress as to the downside of managed care:


 * I wish to begin by making a public confession: In the spring of 1987, as a physician, I caused the death of a man.


 * Although this was known to many people, I have not been taken before any court of law or called to account for this in any professional or public forum. In fact, just the opposite occurred: I was "rewarded" for this. It bought me an improved reputation in my job, and contributed to my advancement afterwards. Not only did I demonstrate I could indeed do what was expected of me, I exemplified the "good" company doctor: I saved a half million dollars.


 * I contend that "managed care," as we currently know it, is inherently unethical in its organization and operation. Furthermore, I maintain that we have an industry which can exist only through flagrant ethical violations against individuals and the public.

On the June 21, 2007 episode of Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! radio/television program, Peeno further claimed that "just within a day or so [of the refusal of the heart transplant, I] saw a sculpture being installed in the rotunda [of Humana's headquarters] and was told at that time that it had cost about the same as the heart transplant that we had denied. ... By the way, I later found out that that sculpture cost $3.8 million, so it was equivalent to eight heart transplants."

Video of Linda Peeno's testimony appeared in Michael Moore's 2007 documentary Sicko. On June 28, 2007, in a statement about the movie, Humana declared that Peeno was never a Humana "associate" (permanent, full-time employee), but rather a "part-time contractor." Humana also disputed the portions of Congressional testimony that were shown by saying that because the patient's specific healthcare plan didn't cover heart transplants, the denial of coverage was valid.

Humana was also featured in Season One of Moore's The Awful Truth, shown refusing to give a pancreatic failure sufferer authorization for a transplant due to a contradictory policy that stated that all of this man's diabetes related expenses were covered by his plan (his pancreas was failing due to his diabetes) but in another section, it said that it wouldn't cover organ transplants. Moore conducted a fake funeral on the front steps of Humana for the man who was sure to die without the transplant. Three days later, Humana changed their policy and authorized the man's treatment. This scene was the inspiration for Sicko.

Misleading mailer sent to Medicare Advantage members
In September, 2009 Humana sent out a mailer targeting seniors that was designed to scare them out of supporting health insurance reform. The mailer said in part, that if health reform passes, "Millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many important benefits and services." The mailer was factually questionable and may have violated marketing rules that Humana must adhere to as a provider of Medicare services. The rules are designed to prevent Medicare patients from becoming confused about who is sending information about their benefits -- the insurance companies or the government.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus responded to the mailer from Humana by urging the Department of Health and Human Services to take action, which they did in the form of starting an investigation into Humana's mailer. As Roll Call newspaper now reports it's because of that investigation that Senate Republicans are holding Dr. Regina Benjamin's nomination to be surgeon general of the United States. This is occurring as a swine flu epidemic spreads throughout the U.S.

Management
Humana company executives, some listed with their pay and exercised options for 2008, are:
 * Michael B. McCallister - Chief Executive Officer, President, Director and Member of Executive Committee; $1.02 million in pay and $702,000 in options for 2008
 * James H. Bloem - Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice-President and Treasurer; $539,000 in pay and $4.42 million in options
 * James E. Murray - Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice-President; $663,000 in pay and $5.68 million in options
 * Bruce J. Goodman - Chief Information Officer, Chief Service Officer and Senior Vice-President; $489,000 in pay and $264,000 in options
 * Julius G. Alberico - Chief Executive Officer of Illinois Market
 * Bonita C. Hathcock - Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
 * Paul B. Kusserow - Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
 * Thomas J. Liston - Senior Vice President, Senior Products
 * Heidi S. Margulis - Senior Vice President, Government Relations
 * Steven E. McCulley - Vice President and Controller, Principal Accounting Officer
 * Raja Rajamannar - Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer
 * Christopher M. Todoroff - Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Board of Directors
As of 2009:
 * David A. Jones, Jr. - Chrysalis Ventures, LLC
 * Frank A. D'Amelio - Chief Financial Officer of Pfizer Inc.
 * W. Roy Dunbar - President and Chief Executive Officer of NetworkSolutions, formerly at MasterCard and Eli Lilly
 * Kurt J. Hilzinger - Court Square Capital Partners, formerly at AmerisourceBergen Corporation
 * Michael B. McCallister - Director, National City Corporation
 * William J. McDonald - Capital One Financial Corporation
 * William E. Mitchell - Director, Arrow Electronics
 * James J. O'Brien - Chief Executive Officer of Ashland Inc.
 * Marissa T. Peterson - formerly of Sun Microsystems
 * W. Ann Reynolds, Ph.D. - Director of Abbott Laboratories, Invitrogen, Maytag and Owens Corning

Contact information
Humana Inc. 500 West Main Street Louisville, KY 40202

Phone: 1-800-486-2620 Website: www.humana.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * America's Health Insurance Plans
 * CIGNA
 * Coyne Public Relations
 * Edelman
 * Insurance industry
 * Medicare
 * Porter Novelli

External articles

 * Press Release, "Humana Announces Strategic Alliance with CUNA Mutual Group: CUNA Mutual's Call Center, Delegated Sales Agents to Offer Full Line of Humana Medicare Products to 9.5+ Million Credit Union Members Eligible for Medicare Benefits," Humana Inc., June 22, 2009.